Chapter 259

The river split into multiple tributaries downstream, flanked mostly by wild,
uninhabited mountains, which made the rescue effort incredibly difficult.
After establishing a farmhouse as their base camp, Penelope sat down in a chair to coordinate the rescue teams, consolidating their reports and relaying new information.
She had to remain calm, decisive even.
“You haven’t found him? Stop wasting time and search further downstream!”
Michael, already geared up, was preparing to join the search himself.
“Michael, you have no rescue experience. You’ll just get in the way,” Penelope said coolly.
He threw his hands up in frustration. “It’s about to rain! If we don’t find him tonight, he’s in real danger!”
“If it’s going to rain, no one can stop it. The only thing we can do now is wait.”
“You can wait because you don’t care about him! I can’t-he’s my friend!” Michael roared at her. Ignoring Harold’s attempts to stop him, he stormed out.
“Ma’am, what should we do?” Harold asked.
Penelope rubbed her forehead. She was starting to regret bringing Michael along, though she’d done it so she wouldn’t have to bear the responsibility alone if something happened to Theodore. It was a selfish impulse. Thıs content belongs to
“He could get himself killed out there. Have someone follow him.”
Night fell quickly, and with it came a torrential downpour. The rain came down in sheets, erasing the world in a watery blur.
One by one, the rescue teams returned, empty-handed.
“The rain’s too heavy. We have to suspend the search for now. Let’s hope it stops by morning,” the team leader told her.
Penelope bit her lip hard. “What if it rains all night?”
“Then you should prepare yourself for the worst.”
“Why are you all back here? Keep looking!” Michael burst in, soaked to the bone
and missing a shoe. He’d come back to change and was furious to see everyone else had returned.
“We can’t go back into the mountains. It’s too dangerous for the rescuers!”
“I’ll pay you whatever you want!”
“Michael!” Penelope’s voice cut through the noise. “Get a grip! Their lives matter too. No one is going back into those mountains in this storm!”
“Who the hell are you yelling at?”
“Don’t be a fool!”
“Then I’ll be a fool! You don’t give a damn if Theodore lives or dies! Not one bit!”
Penelope ignored him and turned toward her room.
“Where are you going?”
“To rest. To sleep.”
“You heartless woman! How can you possibly sleep?”
Ignoring Michael’s tirade, Penelope went into her room, lay down on the bed, and closed her eyes.
The wind battered the windows, thunder cracked overhead, and the rain fell harder.
Suddenly, an idea struck her. She scrambled out of the house, not even bothering with a raincoat, and ran outside. She drove her car into the middle of the road and switched on the high beams, pointing them into the distance.
It was a beacon. If Theodore was lost in the storm, he could follow the light back.
But so much time had passed. Where was he?
She got out of the car, but instead of going back inside, she ran to the edge of the river.
“Theodore! Theodore! Come back!”
Her composure finally shattered, and she screamed into the dark, churning water.
Lightning split the sky above her.
The wind whipped her around, amet
Per through to the
the ram soaked
bone.
“Theodore! Can you hear me?”
“How could you do this to me?”
“You bastard! Come back!”
Logic told her to stay calm, to hold it together. She had to be the steady hand organizing the rescue. But she was at her breaking point. She
couldn’t hold on any longer.
“Theodore! I can’t lose you! I need you to appear in front of me, right now!”